It's always nice when you receive an email announcing another follower of your blog, especially when it's someone whose name suggests a man of intelligence and standing. So when I saw that a Dr. Joseph Suglia is now following Crotchety Man I was eager to see what I could find out about him. His Gravatar profile was singularly uninformative so…Read more Words
indie
Black Horse & Cherry
In 2005 (in the UK) a song called Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall was getting a lot of play on the radio. It's been variously described as pop, folk, blues and indie rock. Needless to say, none of those tags capture the essence of the song, not even taken together. It's short…Read more Black Horse & Cherry
Mountain At My Gates
When I launched this blog I wrote that it would feature a lot of indie music, but that hasn't really happened so far. There are a couple of reasons for this. Crotchety Man's memory goes back over fifty years and 'indie' is a relatively new term in music journalism; a lot of what I have written about pre-dates it.…Read more Mountain At My Gates
Marks To Prove It
In London, just south of the river, there's a large, multi-lane roundabout complex called the Elephant and Castle. For drivers not used to big cities and unfamiliar with the area it's a terrifying place. Cars come at you from every direction. And not just cars. Lorries, vans, motorcycles and buses roar and thunder round the bends…Read more Marks To Prove It
Take Me To Church
You know a song has caught the imagination of the general public when it's played to accompany the trailer for a popular TV program. I realised just the other day that Hozier's Take Me To Church has achieved that ultimate honour, and it's a really good tune, so I've chosen it as my Track of the Week. Needless to say…Read more Take Me To Church
Falling
A band called Here We Go Magic cropped up a couple of times recently. They were mentioned on a blog I follow and Guy Garvey (of Elbow) featured them on one of his radio shows. Out of curiosity I looked them up on Spotify. They're an interesting band. A touch on the happy-slappy side for…Read more Falling
Somebody…
Back in January 2012, looking forward to my 60th birthday later that month, I spent some time browsing Internet sites for music I might like and came across a blogger called Xandi. He (I’m guessing it’s a ‘he’) publishes links to music videos of a wide range of genres from all round the world and I enjoyed…Read more Somebody…
Regret
I've listened to a lot of contemporary music over the last 50 years or so. Inevitably, most of the tracks and albums I blog about were recorded and released a long time ago. But to prove I'm not stuck in the past my latest track of the week was only released at the end of April (this year)…Read more Regret
Guillemots
Guillemots are a bit of a mystery. They are undoubtedly my favourite band of all time but it's hard to say why. Let's do some research, see what we can find out, and try to throw some light on the band and their music. First of all, they are named after a seabird. Guillemot: /ˈɡiləˌmät/ noun…Read more Guillemots
Reflektor
The older I get the harder it is to find new music that stands out. It's like prime numbers; there are infinitely many of them, but they get harder to find the further you go. Just once in a while, though, mathematicians find a new prime and sometimes, in my wanderings through the soundscape, I stumble…Read more Reflektor
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